Insert Movie Reference
by Surely Sherlocked
Summary: Nothing is right. Everything is wrong. His world is changing, but he needs things to stay the same. Abed has a meltdown and Annie doesn't know what to do. Slight spoilers for season 5!


Hey guys! Here's my first Community fic (: Despite often having story ideas in my head, I seldom ever write them down. My own little predicament with daylight savings along with my love for Community and Abed prompted me to scribble this down today (I should actually be studying for my stats quiz with this time. Whoops.).

The show has shown several scenes of Abed's meltdowns and shutdowns, but I always thought they seemed a bit tame for the average person with Asperger's. I wondered what it might be like for him to experience a full-blown, explosive and angry meltdown, so I incorporated my own experiences as well as stories I've heard from other Aspies.

And despite the fact that Abed is my television twin (the similarities are uncanny), I sadly do not own any characters affiliated with Community.

* * *

Abed woke up feeling inexplicably angry. Pain from the pounding headache racing through his skull added to his frustration. He was so angry at everything, the way his clothes rubbed on his skin, how neat and empty the usually occupied and messy top bunk was, his digital alarm clock.

A quick glance at his cell phone had him hurling the clock in a moment of uncontrolled rage against a solid wall in the blanket fort.

Daylight savings*. He could neither understand nor accept the concept. Despite it being a Saturday morning, one of his film classes had required that he turn in a hard copy of a paper at 9:30 AM sharp, any paper turned in later than that would have points deducted.

The digital clock had read 9:00. His phone flashed the numbers 10:00.

Abed took a deep breath and rubbed the palms of his hands together for a few seconds before tossing open the sheet that served as a door to the fort.

He noticed that the normally present Annie was, in fact, absent from the apartment. The hunger in his stomach prompted him to ignore that fact and instead of wondering where Annie was, he headed straight for the cabinets to get his morning cereal.

A box of Troy's favorite, Commander Munch, stood alone in the cabinet. His box of Froot Spins and Annie's Shredded Wheat were missing.

Abed stared blankly at the one box, confused. It was Troy's turn to do the groceries this week. Maybe he'd forgot-wait.

Troy didn't live here anymore. Troy's name on the chore chart was crossed out in sharpie, leaving only Annie and Abed.

He tore his gaze away from the chart on the fridge and looked back at the cabinet.

Every Saturday since he's lived in this apartment, he'd woken up at 9:00, poured himself a bowl of Froot Spins, added a quarter-cup of 2% milk, sat on his recliner, turned on Brittish Broadcast Service America, and watched Inspector Spacetime.

He stood rooted to the floor.

This is extremely very not good. This is double plus ungood.

Thoughts raced through his mind. His routine had been completely disrupted. Everything around him is changing, changing, changing. Nothing is what it's supposed to be. Daylight savings. His absent cereal. His late assignment. He'd missed the airing of a new episode of Inspector Spacetime. Annie's not home. Kickpuncher's been rebooted. Troy's gone. Oh God. Troy's gone. Troy's gone. His world is changing but he needs things to stay the same. Everything is wrong, wrong, wrong. He needs things to stay the same.

The sunlight streaming through the window hurts his eyes. Old Mrs. Myrtle's bird is shrieking and squawking at the top of his lungs. He hates that bird. Abed is suddenly very conscious of the seam inside of his socks. His favorite Threadless shirt, The Madness of Mission 6, made of a soft cotton and polyester blend suddenly feels like sand paper. The shirt label turns into needles pricking the back of his neck.

Nothing is right. Everything is wrong. His world is changing, but he doesn't know how to respond so he does what is most comfortable to him. He breaks.

Abed stands very still with a blank face and hums to himself.

He doesn't move even when he faintly registers the sounds of Annie returning from grocery shopping.

However, the sensation of hands on his shoulder proves too much for him to handle and he explodes.

* * *

A/N: *Fun fact, the daylight savings situation did happen to me this morning. I had an anthropology paper due at the beginning of lecture, and late papers would have points deducted. We also had to submit an electronic copy, which I did early. I also have Tourette Syndrome, which is quite exhausting. I took a look at my digital clock and decided that I had time for a nap. Woe to me when I discovered that the clock hadn't been adjusted one hour forward. When I woke up, lecture was already over. But everything is okay now, I emailed my prof. and GSI to explain my Tourette's situation and they'll let me turn it in late since my electronic copy was already submitted (:


End file.
